DENVER — Relief and skepticism both are greeting Colorado’s next member of the state Supreme Court. Monica Marquez is the first Latina and the first openly gay jurist on the state’s high court. Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter named Marquez on Wednesday to fill a vacancy on the seven-member court. Marquez is currently deputy Colorado attorney general and is past president of the Colorado Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association. Marquez didn’t talk to reporters after being named to the court. But an openly gay state senator praised the choice as a groundbreaking sign of progress.

“There are barriers that are no longer there,” said state Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. “We’ve learned to see past certain traits of people and see them for their competency and their character.” But a conservative critic of the court tells The Denver Post that he suspects Marquez was not chosen because of her merits. Matt Arnold, director of the group Clear the Bench Colorado, said he was disappointed with Ritter’s choice. “I think it is unfortunate that Gov. Ritter appears to have played more to special interests than judging the nominees on their merits,” he said. “He bypassed the most qualified nominees in favor of something else. I hope that she surprises us. I really do.” Marquez, 41, is a Grand Junction native who attended Stanford and Yale universities. Her father, retired Judge Jose D.L. Marquez, was the first Latino appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals. Ritter referred to the milestones set by Marquez’s appointment but said that’s not why she was picked. “It is not because Monica is a Latina or because she is gay,” Ritter said. “I chose her because of her analytical ability and her keen intellect.” Colorado’s Republican Attorney General, John Suthers, praised Marquez. “This lady is the consummate lawyer,” Suthers said. “In a judicial role, there is no question in my mind she’ll do an excellent job of applying the law.” Marquez succeeds retiring Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey. Before Mullarkey leaves, the justices will decide among themselves who will succeed her as chief justice.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

NPR’s Melissa Block talks to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who won Tuesday’s primary in Colorado. Bennet had the backing of President Obama, and his win may signal that the wave of anti-incumbency may not be as strong as it seemed.

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®.

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I’m Michele Norris.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

I’m Melissa Block.

And we begin this hour with politics. In Colorado, Democrats and Republicans chose candidates yesterday for their state’s open Senate seat. And the winners tell two very different stories. On the Republican side, the candidate of the party establishment, the former lieutenant governor lost to county prosecutor Ken Buck. He’s a Tea Party favorite.

On the Democratic side, incumbent Michael Bennet also faced a spirited challenge from the left. Bennet was appointed to fill the seat 18 months ago. And with help from President Obama, he won big last night. I asked Senator Bennet if he thinks his victory means good news for incumbents elsewhere in the country.Senator MICHAEL BENNET (Democrat, Colorado): I think all of these races at the end of the day are going to be decided on their own merits. And I think in my particular case, because I spent my entire life outside of politics before I was put in this seat, I was able to make the case to people that I was bringing a completely different perspective than an ordinary politician, an ordinary incumbent.

BLOCK: Your opponent, though, in the primary, Andrew Romanoff, and certainly your challenger in the race for November will be saying you are an incumbent. You are the Washington insider and what we need is change.

Sen. BENNET: Well, I think what I’ll say is that I’ve been there for 18 months and it’s enough to see that the place is not particularly responsive to the needs of Americans and Coloradans going through the most savage economy since the Great Depression. And the people, you know, that go back there and just play political games and scream at each other and don’t accomplish terribly much are wasting everybody’s time and energy.

BLOCK: I’d like to talk to you a bit about the White House role in your campaign. President Obama endorsed you, campaigned for you. Do you want his support on the campaign trail with you in the general election?

Sen. BENNET: Well, we’ll look at all that over the next three months. I know the White House will look at it, too. It’s always nice to be endorsed by the president. And I appreciated their help over the last 18 months.

BLOCK: Do you think that if you look at the general electorate, one-third of whom in Colorado are not affiliated with a party, does Barack Obama standing next to you in Colorado help or hurt?

Sen. BENNET: I don’t know. I think it certainly helped during the primary and we’ll make a judgment going forward. I do believe that in a state where you got a third Democratic voters, a third Republican voters and a third unaffiliated, and everybody is independent-minded in this state, that what people are really interested in is less partisan solutions to problems and more interested in trying to have people work together. It is a huge puzzle to people here why no one in Washington can seem to get along with each other.

BLOCK: What do you think accounts for the victory in the Republican primary yesterday of Ken Buck, not the choice of the Republican establishment, and a favorite of the Tea Party? What are voters saying there?

Sen. BENNET: Yeah, I mean, I think he just he was able to tap into an excited base of voters. He obviously ran a good primary campaign and I congratulate him for it. I think that his views are far to the right of his party and don’t reflect, you know, the mainstream in Colorado. But he certainly did what he needed to do to win this primary.

BLOCK: And Ken Buck does campaign as an outsider who’s fed up with the Congress. You have been in Congress for 18 months now. Do you think that will work against you in the general election?

Sen. BENNET: I don’t think so. I mean, I’m fed up too, but I’ll tell you this, and as a father of three little girls, the answer is not to shut everything down or to stop progress or to say we can’t fix it, just to throw mud at each other. We’ve got to fix it. You know, it’s broken and it needs to be fixed. If we can’t fix it, we’re going to be the first generation of Americans to leave less opportunity to our kids and our grandkids, and no one wants that.

BLOCK: Michael Bennet, thanks for talking with us.

Sen. BENNET: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I’m going to go back and get some sleep.

BLOCK: Okay, thank you.

Sen. BENNET: Bye.

Colorado’s primary election takes place on Tuesday, August 10, 2010.  Voters will have the opportunity to decide who will be on the ballet for the general election in November. Following are the candidates for the office of Governor for the State of Colorado;  please click on the link to their websites for further information.

Jaimes Brown (Libertarian)  www.jaimesbrowncoloradogovernor2010.com

Jason Clark (Independent)   www.jasonclarkforgovernor.com

John Hinkenlooper (Democrat)  www.hickenlooperforcolorado.com

Dan Maes (Republican)  www.danmaes.com

Scott McInnis (Republican)  www.scottmcinnisforgovernor.com

Dan “Kilo” Sallis (Libertarian)  www.dankilo.com

Tom Tancredo (American Constitution Party)  www.tancredoforovernor2010.org

State lawmakers passed their yearly budget this spring with the expectation that Congress would extend extra money to the states for health care. But Congress wavered for weeks until the bill passed a key Senate vote Wednesday on a 61-38 tally.

Colorado, however, will not get all the money it had expected earlier this year. Gov. Bill Ritter’s office said early estimates show the state can expect $142 million. Sen. Mark Udall’s office put the Colorado total at $159 million…

The same bill also includes $156 million for Colorado school districts to either avoid layoffs or rehire employees. Udall’s office said the money should prevent 2,400 job losses at Colorado schools.

by: ClubTwitty

Mon Aug 02, 2010 at 07:31:56 AM MDT

RealClearPolitics.com is reporting from the Survey USA poll:

SurveyUSA conducted the poll for 9News/Denver Post  and found Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper leading Republicans Scott McInnis by 5 points and Dan Maes by 9 points when Tancredo was not included. With Tancredo inserted to make it a three-way race, Hickenlooper takes 44% to 26% for Tancredo and 25% for McInnis; against Maes, Hickenlooper leads with 46%, with Maes and Tancredo taking 24% apiece.

In 2010, State Senators representing the following 17 Senatorial Districts: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 30, 32, 34 are up for election to 4-year terms; State Senators from the remaining 18 Senatorial Districts were elected to four-year terms in 2008.

The entire 65-member House of Representatives is elected every two years and, thus, all 65 Representatives are up for election in 2010.

The state legislators who will meet over the two years from 2011 through 2012 will make up the 68th COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

The latest chapter in a long, sad story, told by the Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel: The good news: State government should be able to make it 10 more days, to the end of its budget year, with money in the bank.

The not-so-good news: In August, Gov. Bill Ritter will have to declare a fiscal emergency to propose an additional $75 million in cuts.

And the bad news: The end of the federal stimulus bill will require a predicted $687 million to be cut from the 2011-12 budget – nearly 10 percent…

A slightly worse forecast by Ritter’s budget office means Ritter will unveil another $75 million in cuts in August – a relatively modest amount compared with the $1 billion shortfall last year………………

READ THE REST OF THIS COLORADO POLS STORY HERE

A new Denver Post poll shows that Ken Buck leads Jane Norton in their race for the GOP’s U.S. Senate nomination, 53% to 37%. Michael Bennet leads Andrew Romanoff in their race for the Democrats’ nomination, 53% to 36%. The primary elections are Aug. 10, and voters will start mailing in their ballots by about July 20.

Buck leads Bennet 46% to 43%. This shows the anti-Obama Democrat sentiment has held steady all year, but the race is still close. Bennet has raised millions for his campaign while Buck has raised only several hundred thousand dollars. Buck’s weak fundraising…..READ THE REST OF THIS STORY AT PEOPLES PRESS COLLECTIVE.

For Michael Bennet, even a generous $174,000 salary in the U.S. Senate is a sideways financial move.

For challenger Andrew Romanoff, the Senate salary would be a massive windfall.

Ten years of tax records released by the Democratic rivals for U.S. Senate in Colorado reveal starkly different financial lives for two men who have Yale in common.

U.S. Sen. Bennet, a Yale Law graduate, moved from a series of legal jobs into the orbit of private financier Phil Anschutz and reached a $6.5 million payday in 2003.

Romanoff, a Yale undergrad who put himself through the University of Denver Law School while moonlighting in the Colorado legislature, made less than………..READ THE REST OF THIS STORY at The Denver Post.com

by: Dan Willis Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 15:08:28 PM MDT (For those of you who missed the late Friday update. Thankfully, we won’t have to try to put Joe Gwissgnksangt on the Governor Line. – promoted by Colorado Pols)

As of 6/11/10 6:00pm

On ballot: Jane Norton (R) – US Sen Steven Barton (R) – CD1 Walker Stapleton (R) – Treas Joel Judd (D) – SD34 Amber Tafoya (D) – HD4 Mark Mehringer (D) – HD7 David Casiano (R) – HD44

Did not make ballot: Joe Gschwenter (R) – Gov Mark Hurlbert (R) – SD16 Renee Blanchard (D) – SD33 Jennifer Coken (D) – HD4 Blake Harrison (D) – HD7 Raymond Keyawa (R) – HD59